After the recent hardships, many state governments are predicting a better year for small businesses. However, new technology, like virtual phone systems such as Ultatel or Ooma, combined with new regulations and benefits, has produced some varied changes in how businesses are run.
Any businesses that want to survive need to keep up with these trends and incorporate them into their practices.
Following are the current trends that are revolutionizing small businesses
1] Using Government Loans
The recent economic hardships put many businesses in a tough situation financially. This led to great concern about the survival of small businesses and cash flow problems. One response to this is reaching out for government loans, which has become the norm for many small businesses.
2] Finding Alternative Sources of Capital
While government loans can be great, they are not an option for every business owner. Therefore, finding alternative sources of capital, such as crowdsourcing or angel investors, is also rising.
3] Increasing Spending on Social Media Marketing
Since social media platforms have billions of users each, it is no surprise that businesses want to capitalize on this. In fact, the number of businesses using social media marketing has increased recently.
With this has come an increase in the number of money companies spend on this type of service. Some small businesses have even doubled the amount of money they spend on social media ads. Due to high potential growth Social Media marketing is becoming great tool for business.
4] Increasing Spending on Traditional Ads
Reports from the IRS and other government agencies have declared that many businesses are increasing their traditional advertisements. Additionally, the lines between advertisements and content are starting to blend to get people to read the ads and believe them.
5] Receiving a Higher ROI on Multimedia Spending
Today, many businesses are using multimedia to share information and attract attention. This has produced a much higher return on investment than traditional sources of connecting with consumers.
6] Incorporating Augmented Reality
Augmented and virtual reality has become increasingly popular for many businesses. But, surprisingly, small businesses are the ones leading this charge of adoption because of the many cost benefits of this equipment.
7] Using AI
Another technology that is increasingly prevalent in the business world is artificial intelligence. It has proven particularly useful for data analysis because it allows machines to gather large amounts of data and learn how to analyze it.
The insights artificial intelligence provides through this process allow business owners to make informed decisions. If small businesses want to survive, they are going to need to stay current on industry trends. These are just some trends taking place right now that businesses should consider incorporating.